MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- A Memphis man testified on Monday that he and a second person shot and killed rapper Young Dolph after Big Jook, the brother of rapper Yo Gotti, put a hit on him. Cornelius Smith identified himself and Justin Johnson as the two people seen on a Nov.
17, 2021, surveillance video exiting a white Mercedes outside a Memphis cookie store about 30 seconds after Young Dolph entered the store and then opening fire in broad daylight. Smith was testifying in the first day of Johnson's trial on charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and being a felon in possession of a gun. Smith also faces murder and conspiracy charges.
Johnson’s attorney, Luke Evans, told the jury in opening statements that they should not trust Smith's testimony because he was just trying to save himself. Johnson is innocent, Evans said. Photos of him wearing clothes like the person in the video do not mean he is same as person, Evans said.
Deputy District Attorney Paul Hagerman, in opening statements, said Young Dolph, whose real name was Adolph Thornton Jr., was determined to make it on his own as an artist, and also with his own label, Paper Route Empire. “Trying to make it on your own can create enemies,” Hagerman said.
He noted that Yo Gotti-founded rival record label Cocaine Muzic Group (now known as Collective Music Group) and wanted Young Dolph to work for them, but he turned them down. Young Dolph later wrote diss tracks directed at the label, its artists, and its “number t.